Ex-Double Agent: Books, Movies Were my Training Against Russians

The FBI gave him virtually no training, so he taught himself to be a double agent against the Russians, Naveed Jamali tells Newsmax TV.

Jamali, author of the upcoming book "How to Catch a Russian Spy," told "Newsmax Prime" on Tuesday his spy career started when a Soviet agent entered his parents' New York business, a defense contracting company, in the 1980s and ordered some books of unclassified material.

Two FBI agents came in shortly after he left and asked what the man was looking for. They told Jamali to order the man's books, and began a two-decade relationship with the family.

But training was non-existent, Jamali said.

"You would assume it'd be years of training and Quantico and the State Department, but no," he said. "I just read a lot of books and, believe it or not, watched movies. I would lift the dialogue from movies and use it with the Russians, and, for whatever reason, it worked."

He gave the Russians thumb drives of useless information on what they believed to be American intelligence in exchange for envelopes of cash.

Jamali said there has been no real change since the days of the Soviets in the 1980s until now.

"I mean they were just as interested in collecting intelligence and information on our country in the late '80s as they are today," he said. "Russia, they've got territorial ambitions and you can see what's happening in the Ukraine. They're a major competitor and our adversary."

The FBI gave him virtually no training, so he taught himself to be a double agent against the Russians, Naveed Jamali tells Newsmax TV.
Jamali, author of the upcoming book How to Catch a Russian Spy, told Newsmax Prime on Tuesday his spy career started when a Soviet...